Bidspirit auction | [HISTORY] - BIGNON Louis-Pierre-Edouard baron

[HISTORY] - BIGNON Louis-Pierre-Edouard baron (1771 - 1841) - Important Diplomatic Correspondence Concerning Poland, Then The Duchy Of Warsaw And Marshall Poniatowski - An exceptional collection of nine extensive diplomatic letters, one of which is in the author’s own hand and is entirely transcribed below; the others contain minor corrections by Bignon. Poland (mainly Kraków), January–April 1813, addressed to Hugues Maret, Duke of Bassano, Minister for Foreign Affairs; 35 pp., folio. French diplomat and historian, he served as Napoleon’s resident (de facto ambassador) in the Duchy of Warsaw. In 1813, he accompanied the Polish government on its retreat to Kraków. The letters was addressed to the Duke of Bassano (Hugues-Bernard Maret), by then Napoleon’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, to inform him of the complex diplomatic maneuvers between the Polish and Austrian forces. The Archives nationales de France purchased at the Alde sale, Paris, 15 February 2007, 149 minutes numbered 1 to 158. Nos. 70, 96, 101, 103, 104, 107, 115, 122, and 135 are missing from this set. This lot contains the nine missing letters. Cracovie le 14 avril 1813 à 8 heures du soir Mgr, Au moment où je venais de clore mes dépêches à V. E., le Prince Poniatowski vient me communiquer la réponse qu’il fait au général prussien relative à la dénonciation de l’armistice. Le Prince a trouvé un biais très raisonnable pour différer encore de quelques jours à s’expliquer d’une manière définitive. Il nous paraît incontestable ici que les Autrichiens n’ont nullement envie d’abandonner Cracovie aux Russes; il ne peut pas leur convenir de laisser une nation plus ou moins ennemie s’établir aussi près de leur frontière. Le Prince est ainsi fondé dans la demande qu’il leur fait de s’informer s’il peut ou non laisser ici les hôpitaux. Cette question produira une discussion de quelques jours, et c’est un délai gagné pour recevoir les réponses de M. de Narbonne aux lettres que nous lui avons écrites. V. E. remarquera en outre que le Prince se borne à promettre qu’à l’expiration de l’armistice il aura au moins passé la Vistule. Selon que les Russes s’avanceront avec plus ou moins de forces, le Prince pourra tenir quelques jours de plus ou de moins et dans l’intervalle nous espérons que M. de Narbonne sera de retour ou que nous aurons quelque détermination par les lettres dont il était porteur. (Krakow, 14 April 1813 at 8 pm. Your Excellency, Just as I had finished my dispatches to Your Excellency, Prince Poniatowski came to inform me of the reply he is sending to the Prussian general regarding the denunciation of the armistice. The Prince has found a very reasonable pretext to postpone for a few more days giving a definitive explanation. It seems beyond doubt to us here that the Austrians have no desire to hand over Krakow to the Russians; it cannot suit them to allow a more or less hostile nation to establish itself so close to their border. The Prince is therefore justified in asking them to ascertain whether or not he may leave the hospitals here. This question will give rise to a discussion lasting a few days, and this buys us time to receive Mr de Narbonne’s replies to the letters we have written to him. Your Excellency will also note that the Prince confines himself to promising that, upon the expiry of the armistice, he will at least have crossed the Vistula. Depending on whether the Russians advance with greater or lesser force, the Prince may hold out a few days more or less, and in the meantime we hope that Mr de Narbonne will be back or that we shall have some resolution through the letters he was carrying). •⁠> This lot is located in and ships from Switzerland. Import duties, VAT, and clearance charges will apply in the destination country and are the buyer's responsibility.